Game Recap — 12/29/2018 — Washington Capitals at Ottawa Senators

Game Recap: The Washington Capitals would face-off against the Ottawa Senators and would come away with the 3-2 win. The Washington Capitals would have two firsts in the contest with Tyler Lewington and Madison Bowey both scoring their first NHL career goals. Lewington and Bowey would become the first set of teammates to score their first goals against a goalie that is making his first career start since the Kings Gord Labossiere & Brian Kilrea vs Flyers Doug Favell on Oct 14, 1967.

The second period would be a even-matched penalty-filled period with Bowey and Ottawa’s Brady Tkachuk getting minors and matching fighting penalties. However, Tkachuk would get hit with a 10-minute misconduct penalty. At the end of the second period, the Capitals would hold a 3-1 lead. The third period would be a slow, but evenly matched period for the Capitals. The Senators would score late in the third period when they were caused chaos in front of the net but the Capitals would hold on to seal the 3-2 win over the Ottawa Senators.

The Capitals look to take this energy into their next contest on Monday afternoon when they take on the Nashville Predators.

Analysis: The first period started off slow until Tom Wilson registered his 11th goal of the season. Capitals goaltender Pheonix Copley made a couple good saves in the first and the Capitals should maintain the pace of play they had in the first period for the next 40 minutes.

Need to Do: The Capitals need to apply more pressure to the Senators, as Ottawa is not known for shooting the puck well this season. The Capitals also need to do better job at the faceoff circle.

Analysis: Madison Bowey would register his first career NHL goal one minute into the period and then seemed like things got very chippy. Madison Bowey would be called for interference after what looked like a high hit under the chin, which started a brawl with Ottawa’s Brady Tkachuk. Tkachuk would be called for an instigator penalty, which kicked the brawl off. Later in the period, Tyler Lewington would get the “Gordie Howe hat-trick” with a fight of his own with 4:24 left in the period with Ottawa’s Zack Smith.

Need to Do: The Capitals need to do whatever they can to stay of the penalty box, even if the penalties have been matching. The Capitals also need to maintain focus and create a bit more chaos around the net. Ottawa had very close calls with the puck coming into the net. The Capitals blue-liners need to play smart and take advantages of the puck coming their way and re-direct shots the other way.